Summary
The Utah Supreme Court held that the thirty-day period for moving to withdraw a guilty plea under Utah Code section 77-13-6(2)(b) begins when the trial court enters final judgment of conviction, including a new sentencing order after resentencing. Because McGee filed his motion nineteen days after resentencing, the court reversed its dismissal for lack of jurisdiction. The court affirmed the denial of McGee’s request to reduce his first-degree felony conviction, finding no abuse of sentencing discretion.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the thirty-day period for moving to withdraw a guilty plea under Utah Code section 77-13-6(2)(b) begins when the plea is entered or when the court enters final judgment and sentence after resentencing.
- Whether the district court abused its discretion by refusing to reduce McGee's first-degree felony conviction to a second-degree felony at the resentencing hearing.
Holdings
- Under Utah Code section 77-13-6(2)(b), the thirty-day period for filing a motion to withdraw a guilty or no-contest plea begins when the trial court enters a final judgment of conviction based on the plea. Because the new sentencing order constituted the final judgment and McGee filed his motion nineteen days later, the motion was timely.
- The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying McGee's request to reduce the first-degree felony conviction. The sentence was not inherently unfair or clearly excessive in light of the facts underlying the conviction.
Key quotations
“The new sentencing order constitutes the final judgment in this case. Because McGee's motion to withdraw his guilty plea was filed nineteen days after the entry of final judgment, it was timely under section 77-13-6(2)(b).” (31 P.3d at 534)
“We do not find the final sentence inherently unfair or clearly excessive in light of the facts underlying McGee's conviction.” (31 P.3d at 534)
Factual background
McGee pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated murder, receiving stolen property, and failure to respond to an officer's signal to stop. After he obtained a new sentencing hearing through a stipulation with the State, the district court denied his request to reduce the first-degree felony and resentenced him to the same term. McGee moved to withdraw his guilty plea nineteen days after the new sentencing order, asserting ineffective assistance, involuntariness, noncompliance with Utah Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(e), and sentencing under the wrong statute.
Procedural history
McGee pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated murder and other offenses in 1995 and was sentenced. After the State stipulated to a new sentencing hearing, he was resentenced on February 6, 1998. Nineteen days later, he moved to withdraw his guilty plea. The district court dismissed the plea-withdrawal motion as untimely under Utah Code section 77-13-6(2)(b) and denied his request to reduce the offense. The Utah Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of the plea-withdrawal motion and affirmed the sentence and denial of the reduction request.
Remand instructions
The district court's dismissal of McGee's motion to withdraw his guilty plea was reversed; the opinion does not state separate remand instructions. The denial of the requested felony reduction was affirmed.